Clothespin



sept. 25 ,1923.

- GLOTHESPIN Filed Dec. 27 192() Patented Sept. 25, 1923.

Urn fs'rrss g WILLIAM E. SCHNEIDER, 0F JERSEY CiIJI'Y,v NEW JERSEY. i

CLOTHESPIN.

Application med December 27, le20.A serial 110.4335344.

To all whom z't may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SCHNEIDER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of 97 Zabriskie Street, Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements 'in -Clothespins, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to spring clamps and in particular to thev kind which may be used for suspending clothes on a clothes line.

VIts primary objects are to providea simple, inexpensive device of this kind by -means of whichclothes or any other article may not only be' securely `fastened within the clamping parts thereof, but also prevented from voluntarily leaving the lclamp or slipping `therefrom when the article clamped is subjected to pulling or togging, caused for instance by wlnd.

Another object of this invention is to proi vide means whereby the clamp may be susclamp member.

pended on a'clothes line without effecting the clamping lqualities of thearticle.

Another important object of my device is to provide reinforcing means whereby the part providing for attaching the clamp to .I

the clothes-line is prevented from splitting or otherwisedisassociating itself from the clam proper. A

A urther object of my invention is to provide spring means normally holding the lower portions of the clam tightly together while at the same time gui lng these portions at' their faces to the end that theyoremain permanently in properrelation to each other, whether in closed or open position. y

vThe foregoing and other objects will be more'fully apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, forming partof this specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of my clamp in closed position.

Fig. 2 illustrates same in open position. 1 Fig. 3 is a pers ective view of one clamp member associate with an auxiliary leg.

Fig. 4 isa perspective view of the other Fig. 5 is a perspective view. of a modified form of my clamp.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view thru one clamp member in modified form.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view ofanother modiiiedform of my clamp.

Fig. 8 represents a modified reinforced member. l 1

Figs. 9 and ll0 represent perspective views of thevspring member.

Fig. 1l is a top view of the spring member. Fig. 12 represents a top view of a blank whercfrom a spring member is formed.-

Referring to the drawings 10 indicates one clamp which is provided near its lowereend with a half round'rib 11. 12 represents the form of a corresponds and registers with the rib 11. Made integral with, or made separately and `otherclamp member provided with a half round groove 13 at its lower portion which attached to clamping member 12, lis auxiliary leg 14, between which and the clamping meinbenaJ space 15 is formed whereinto the clothes-line, indicated at 16, is forced when the clamp is being hung up.l A

At the joining part of'tlie'clampin meniber and the auxiliary leg, I referab provide reinforcing` means whic mayvtaiie the form of a rivet 17, passing near thev up r i' portion of space 15 thru both the clamping member 12 and the auxiliary'leg 14. This rivet may be equipped with broad washers or heads resting against a comparatively large area of the clamp material, as may be seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

shown in Figs. 5 and 6, a resilient strip 14 takes .the place of the auxiliar? o strip receives preferably the rm'of a n arrow V and is provided with an indenture 18 at its attached endwhile near its bent por# tion a perforation 19 is madel thru ./which a punch may be inserted by means of which the leg material adjacent to clamping member 12'., may be pierced and thus anchored in the material of this clamping member, as indicated at 20.

The indentation 18 serves as rest for the spring` member and at the same time prevents the auxiliary leg 14 from' shifting alongside the clamping member 12. Y

In Figs. 7 and 8 another modification of In themodified form of my clamp, as

leg 14. This my clamp is shown where instead of the rivet.17, a heavy reinforcing member 21 is applied over the joining part between the auxiliary leg 14 and" clamping mem-ber 12". This reinforcing member or reinforcing clamp 21 ins provided with two indentations indicated at 22 which register with indentations madeinthe material of clamping member 12l and auxiliary leg.14.

In this latter modification the lower portion of the reinforcing clamp21 is shaped in a similar manner as 1s auxiliary leg 14 to `are joined.. v u l clamping jaws, formed by rib 11 -and recesswhich it is forced to closely adhere, due toits spring action. s

Spring member-23 which is shown in. detail in Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12, normally holds together in closed position both clamping members in the manner shown in Figs. 1;, 5, and 7.

The spring member 23 is designed in-such away as to not only force the lower portions of the clamping members together, but also hold the same in proper relation to each other. It is preferably made from wire which is given asubstantially rectangular.- form, the long sides of which are looped as indicated at 24, while the shortersides rcmain straight and engage thegouter sides of the clamping members. l

The U-shaped legs extending from the looped portions of 'the spring member em# brace the respective clamping members,.thu's keeping-the latter steadily in contact and their faces flush. A

The operation of my device is obvious. Wheny clothes-lor other articles are to be clamped between the clamping members, the upper ends thereof are pressed together as indicated in Fig. 2 and the clothes are slipped between the now lower open ends of the clamp. When the upper portion is a gain released the clothes will adapt itself to the form ofthe half round bar 11 and the corrosponding groove or 'rezess 13. In this manner the clothes is, so as tospeak, locked be vtween the clamping members and cannot be pulled out even .by force unless the clamp is again opened.

'For the reason that ordinary clothes pins usually split because they are employed' to clamp the clothesdirectly to the cord or clothes-line, I have provided the auxiliary leg between whichand the clamp proper the clothesline is inserted.

Iam awareof the existence 'of similar devices', lacking, however, the most important features necessary t0 make this clamp practical for general use. These features first, ing

igned at New Yorkin the count-y of are the reinforcement of theportion where the auxiliary le and the clamping member .econdly, the. interlocking 13, and the novel spring member which not onl holds the clamping members against eac other, but also in, proper relation to each other. i

The spri member may be made from au endless piece of wire or from a rectangularly shaped wire as indicated in Fig. 12.

-While the drawings show specific forms of my clothespin and particularly of the reinforcing member, the spring member and the jaw portion of the clamping members, be it understood that modifications, changes or improvements may be made without parting from the broad scope of this invention. I therefore reserve for myself the right to make such changes and-modifications within the purview of my invention, for' which I claims.

1. In combination with aclamp, composed of two coacting clan'iping menbers, interlocking at their lower ends, unitary constraining means of substantially rectangular shape and loopedat substantially its center portion, its ends' ene-aging said clamping members at the lattersi;J outer sides, the looped portions of said restraining'means engaging the faces of said clamping members.

2. In a 'clothes pin composed of two' coacting clamping members, one of which having an auxiliaryreinforced suspension leg, a unitary constraining member adaptedto completely embrace the lower ends of said clamping members Vand composed of a s ubstantially rectangular wireframne, looped, at substantially its center portion, said looped portion embracing the sides of said clamping members, and the ends of said spring engaging the outer faces of the legs of said clamping members.

3, In combination with a clamp, composed of -two clamping members, a spring member made of a substantially rectangularshaped wire frame looped at its longer sides and forming U-shaped legs, said legs engagy in the said clamping members at their outer si es,the looped longer sides of the spring,

member engaging the faces of said clampmembers.

New York, and sate of New Your, this es day of December A.. D. 1920.

, WILLIAM E. SCHNEIDER 

